They wernt taking off with spoilers up

Yep.  Still a lot of paperwork.

Storm Pano 2021-06-30 by FredMan, on Flickr

Absolutely stunning photo.

this is some mad max sh1t pic.twitter.com/DV1EXaDOX7

Insane Reality Leaks  (@InsaneRealitys) September 24, 2023

Astronaut's photo shows a rare 'sprite' in Earth's atmosphere caused by lightning shooting up toward space

WOW! Not an oddity but damn cool

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1868052023610194?mibextid=N9XJtf

Thanks. That one took first place in a contest and I’ve actually sold a few copies.

Here’s this year’s entry

Storm Beams Pano by FredMan, on Flickr

And another heavy one heavy to sunbeams.

Sunset Beams 20170707 by FredMan, on Flickr

Not sure I'd trust that to hold them in place.

Well, this fits the WTF part....

An Australian celebrity zoologist famous for his work with crocodiles has pleaded guilty to violent bestiality charges & for disseminating child sex abuse content. The court heard how he tortured & killed dozens of animals after brutally raping them. https://t.co/ZniZ1Af5Mb

— Andy Ngô \uD83C\uDFF3??\uD83C\uDF08 (@MrAndyNgo) September 26, 2023

"This is the fate of those who get in the way of man."

This needs to be re-narrated by the gay honey badger guy.

Fall in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia,Canada
photographer not listed

I guess they don't make 'em like they used to?

There's a video of the sinking of the USS Oriskany. It took 'em something like 9 months to drain all the oil and crap, then cut holes in the tanks, decks, etc. so she'd sink. Those carriers were built to survive!

Pretty cool.  I know some of the EOD guys that participated in that.

Signature line fits.

There is a ton of stuff invented at PARC that Xerox gave away.  Graphical computer interface, the mouse and more.

My Ex-Father-in-law served on that ship...he was there for the major fire and had to talk to men over the intercom that were stuck behind water tight doors.

For years he would sleep walk and get food from the kitchen and put it in the closet to "feed they guys"

My first job out of college in 2003 was working for a PARC Xerox subsidiary called Gyricon.

Interesting technology, but was made obsolete for it's intended purpose pretty quickly.

This is Shi Jiangiao, a Chinese assassin who lived during the Warlord Era (1916-1928) in China.

Shi came from a family of humble beginnings as her grandfather was a simple farmer and tofu seller. However, that all changed when her father and uncle became decorated soldiers,… pic.twitter.com/lzLpDLVT05

Historic Vids  (@historyinmemes) September 30, 2023

"This is Shi Jiangiao, a Chinese assassin who lived during the Warlord Era (1916-1928) in China.

Shi came from a family of humble beginnings as her grandfather was a simple farmer and tofu seller. However, that all changed when her father and uncle became decorated soldiers, rising through the ranks in the Chinese military. This helped raise the social status of her family.

In 1925, when Shi was only 19 years old, her father was leading a brigade of soldiers to capture Guzhen, Shandong, when he became surrounded by a warlord by the name of Sun Chuanfang. Sun decapitated her father and had his head mounted on a pike and put on display at a local train station.

Two years later, Sun was disposed of by the Kuomintang (aka Chinese Nationalist Party) who wanted to reunify China, which had become fragmented after the 1911 Revolution, which overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing. Sun peacefully retired from his life as a warlord and founded a Buddhist society.

Meanwhile, Shi spent her 20s tracking down Sun who had disappeared without a trace. In 1935, ten years after her father's death, Shi managed to track Sun down in Tianjin, a major port city close to Beijing. (If you recall, Tianjin was the city that had that major explosion in 2015.)

Shi entered the Buddhist temple and found Sun kneeling in front of the altar. She approached him from behind and shot him several times with a pistol. She did not attempt to flee the scene of the crime but began distributing pamphlets explaining her actions.

Her case drew significant coverage and reached the Nanjing Supreme Court. In the eyes of the law, she was guilty. However, Confucian morality stipulates that one must avenge their parents. Ultimately, the Nationalist government decided to pardon her on the grounds that the assassination was justified because it was an act of filial piety. It also helped her case that the man she had assassinated was guilty of trafficking opium, suppressing strikes by factory workers in Shanghai, and collaborating with the Japanese."

When ya can't cross a road without getting killed, you do what ya gotta do.

From an old South Carolina county map book I have, for Allendale County

102958FF-690F-47CA-A4B8-158105272368 by FredMan, on Flickr

Many years ago, railroad is now gone.



https://mavrailroad.com/

Closed indefinitely due to Covid-19

First, I apologize for taking so long to post an update. I have sat down to do this several times over the last couple of weeks and just got to depressed to finish it. I never dreamed this would happen when buying the railroad from the Schrader's last May.

Second, what has happened to the wood on the trestles is no ones fault. Nature just took it's course and insects damaged the oak beams from the inside where the damage was hidden. We hired a building inspector that looked at the trestles and the tunnel before we purchased the railroad and he reported no issues. I want everyone to know this was not an issue of neglect or poor maintenance. Howard Schrader, architect and builder of the railroad, had the trestles designed by a professional engineer, used the best materials available at the time of construction, and was meticulous at maintaining the railroad and it's equipment. I could never afford to actually pay Howard Schader what the railroad cost him to build in time, labor, and cost of the equipment. Most people have no idea what something like this would cost to recreate today. I do because I was looking at building one in Texas before I saw that the MAVRR was for sale. For instance, before the tarrif on Asian steel went into effect, one foot of a railroad this scale cost about $50 just in materials. That is $269K per mile plus time and labor. Now that is even higher today. We have had a few comments on Facebook as to why we do not buy American steel rail. I would love to except none is produced here. The MAVRR uses 12 lb/yd rail that was common in small mines now only found in Asia countries. Mines like you see in old Western movies. And only China and Japan produce this size rail. So it is only imported by a few sources for use with small cranes, some of which have stopped importing it because not many people buy it in the first place in the USA.

The process to redesign the trestles, and obtain approval of the redesign from the state of Michigan, has taken much longer than I anticipated. The design was finished at the end of March and approval from the state was obtained at the end of April. I then needed to find about $50K to buy materials and complete the work. We applied for a loan but could not get one for this project. We are now in the process of getting our house in Texas on the market so we can get the money needed to complete the work. But we do not have time to do the job right and get the railroad open for this season. So our goal is now to be ready for next year.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are going to have to replace to top half of both trestles. We are replacing the wood beams with steel that will last 100 years or more and will free from insect attack. We are also adding a walkway for an escape route should the train ever experience a problem while on the trestles. We will also add full guard rails in case a wheel jumps the main rails. This is a safety feature found on all modern large railroads. This will bring the trestles up to current amusement ride standards being proposed for new construction by the engineering organization that sets uniform standards for amusement rides in the USA. The engineer we selected actually is part of this organization. The state did not require this. We could have just kept the same design using wood beams and no escape route and then no engineering would be required. But since we want to change the original design, the state required us to have the new plans drawn up and certified by a professional engineer from their approved list. We felt the time and cost was worth it for the safety of our passengers and ourselves. I should note that this in no way should be taken as a criticism of the original trestle design that Howard Schrader paid another professional engineer to design 20+ years ago. Now that we know the type of wood needed to hold the weight of the train is subject to decay and attack by insects, we to move to steel beams just like the big railroads have. As we all know, standards change and evolve over time and lessons are learned as structures experience wear and tear. We are looking to the future with this project so this railroad keeps running for generations to come.

Sorry to disappoint everyone. We are disappointed as well. But safety has to be our top priority. Thanks for all of your support our first short season as new caretakers of the MAVRR. We look forward to a full season in 2020. If you purchased a season ticket in 2018, please stop by during the week and we would be glad to provide a refund. The Schrader's Railroad Catalog office is normally open from 9AM to 4PM Monday to Friday. I will post updates as they become available along with some progress photos. Have a great summer and please come see us next year.

https://discoverlivesteam.com/discoverforsale/forsale/0_Costello/index1.htm

For Sale

Complete 1/4 scale 16" gauge Railroad

Steam Locomotive
F7 Diesel A-A Locomotive Set
Passenger Cars
Track and Switches

$300,000
total price for everything listed here

Xerox had a working Mac or Lisa computer and apple saw it and hired the engineers and had them recreate it

Stop filming! RUN!!

I guess they found the camera downstream somewhere?

Running wouldn't change the outcome of that at all

Port Arthur

Wasn't this a joke on the radio in GTA:Vice City??

Dude was (somehow) fine: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/11/british-tourists-survive-avalanche-in-tian-shan-mountains-of-kyrgyzstan

:

Two days after mocking @ScottAdamsSays for predicting a violent crime surge in the U.S., a left-wing Philadelphia journalist was shot and killed. pic.twitter.com/XCWRAHh2rv

Sean Davis  (@seanmdav) October 2, 2023

LSD gummies?

That would do it.

Tell that to your face. https://t.co/6L5Pe7PXkc pic.twitter.com/GrRBEot8S7

The Critical Drinker  (@TheCriticalDri2) October 3, 2023